


Walking Home

by deaththerabbit



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Pick-Up Lines, M/M, Wataru plays matchmaker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 17:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14774288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deaththerabbit/pseuds/deaththerabbit
Summary: Wataru plays matchmaker and sets up Kaoru and Tomoya up on an impromptu date.





	Walking Home

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not super familiar with writing Tomoya, but I hope I wrote him well! Can you tell I'm running out of titles?

“Y’know, after a certain amount of times, it’s not an accident, my friend. If I were you, I would not let Nito-kun catch you hassling dear Tomoya-kun~!” Wataru cast Kaoru a mischievous grin as Tomoya disappeared around the corner into the Theatre Club’s dressing rooms, face red as a tomato.

“Oh, shut it. It was an honest mistake.” Kaoru scowled at Wataru, arms crossed defensively over his chest.

“Maybe the first time~! But that’s the third time you’ve tried to court him, and in the same dress, no less! One could come to the conclusion that you may have an eensy-weensy little crush on him!” Wataru elbowed Kaoru playfully, wearing the expression of a man that was up to something.

“I was not trying to ‘court’ him, you weirdo!” The pink blush on his face suggested otherwise, but he was adamant in his denial. “And I most certainly do not have a crush on him!”

“Ah, then I shall believe you for now.” Wataru heaved an exaggerated sigh, sounding like he didn’t, in fact, believe him in the slightest. “But I do recommend actually confessing your nonexistent feelings to Tomoya-kun rather than bottling them away!”

“What is wrong with you?” Kaoru rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and sighed. He turned to leave, shaking his head.

“Before you go, Kao-kun, I have some advice for you~!” Wataru grabbed his sleeve and dragged him back away from the door.

“I don’t want your advice.” Kaoru said bluntly, a deadpan expression on his face. “Please don’t try to help me.”

“But this is absolutely necessary advice! Necessary to your very soul!” Wataru dropped to his knees, clutching both of Kaoru’s hands in his own. “Please allow me to bestow it upon you!”

Kaoru was certain that Wataru wasn’t going to let him go until he listened to whatever advice he had. “Oh, fine. Just...don’t make this any weirder than it already is.”

Wataru did the exact opposite of what he pleaded. “Very well, very well!” Behind him, Hokuto rolled his eyes, as if he already knew that Wataru was going to do something ridiculous. “Before you ask Tomoya-kun’s hand in marriage, you must absolutely first ask little Nito-kun for his permission and blessing!”

Tomoya walked in right at that moment, changed back into his normal school uniform, and stopped in his tracks, a horrified expression on his still red face.

Kaoru took three large steps away from Wataru, disgust spreading across his face. “I told you not to make it weird! I’m not going to marry him! I already told you that I don’t like him that way, too! Jeez!” His vehement denial was more to convince himself of it, rather than Wataru.

Replacing the horrified expression on Tomoya’s face, was, strangely enough, one of hurt feelings. It was as if he couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted Kaoru to like him. But it did seem as if Kaoru’s harsh denial had hurt him a bit.

Wataru leapt to his feet, letting out a horrified gasp and covering his mouth with his hand. “How could you be so cruel to him, when he harbors such a deep crush on you?!” He swayed on his feet, pretending as if he were going to faint.

“I’m not being cruel. You’re just butting into my business with unsolicited advice.” Kaoru turned to leave, noticing Tomoya and hastily hiding his reddened face. “I’m going home.”

“So am I.” Tomoya grumbled, puffing out his cheeks in an attempt to pretend that what Kaoru had said didn’t bother him.

Wataru perked right up, a mischievous expression crossing his face before vanishing just as quickly as it had appeared. “Ah, but it’s so dark out already! Perhaps somebody should walk you home, little rabbit! It’s not safe out for cute boys such as yourself!” He dragged Kaoru and Tomoya back closer again. “Tomoya-kun, how about you let my dear friend walk you home? I’m sure he won’t let any harm come to you!”

“I’ll be fine walking on my own. I walk home every day, so I don’t see why I need someone to walk me home today…” Tomoya clutched his bag to his chest, frowning while Kaoru just shook his head.

“Ah, well, if you won’t accept my friend walking you home, I’ll just have to walk you home myself! How Amazing it would be to show your family the costumes you’ve tried on!” Wataru grinned and grabbed Tomoya by the arm.

“We...we aren’t friends.” Kaoru let out a deep sigh, resigned to his unfortunate fate. Wataru clearly wasn’t going to let this go, no matter how much he protested the matchmaker act he was performing.

“No way!” Tomoya tore his arm away from Wataru, glaring. He stepped closer to Kaoru, horrified at the idea of a walk home with the eccentric weirdo known as Hibiki Wataru. He would be ten times safer with the slightly less weird Kaoru...right? He glanced up at Kaoru, more willing to walk home with a rabid dog than Wataru. Kaoru was the safer option.

“Oh, fine, I’ll walk him home…” Kaoru gave in reluctantly. “Come on.” He turned to leave, nudging Tomoya in the direction of the door.

“Amazing~! Enjoy your date!” Wataru called as they left.

“It’s not a date!” Kaoru snapped, unable to keep his face from reddening as they left.

Kaoru didn’t give Tomoya any time to say a word until they were well away from the school, though he kept glancing back to make sure he was keeping up okay. Away from Wataru’s meddling, he was far more relaxed.

Tomoya was feeling much the same, especially since he was no longer in a dress and there was no chance of Kaoru mistaking him for a girl yet again.

As they passed by a convenience store, Kaoru paused for a moment. Then he turned and opened the door to go inside. “You can wait out here if you don’t want to come in. I’ll just be a minute.”

Without waiting for the first year to reply, he went into the convenience store. He gave the resident cat a pat and went to the back.

Once there, he picked out a pre-made bento for himself; he didn’t plan on returning to his own home until he was sure his father would be in bed. They had gotten into a bad argument the night before, and Kaoru didn’t want to continue it.

For a moment, Kaoru hesitated in going up to the counter to pay, a small frown on his face. Tomoya had stayed pretty late at school for Theatre Club rehearsals, and Kaoru wasn’t sure if he had had a break to eat anything yet.

With a sigh, he turned and began looking for something that Tomoya might like. The only thing he really had to go on, was that Tomoya didn’t seem to like bitter melons very much, going by the expression that had been on his face when one of the Aoi twins had offered him a piece one day during lunch. He supposed the best thing to do would be to avoid getting him anything with melons until he learned more about what Tomoya liked.

For a few minutes, he browsed the convenience store, humming until he spotted taiyaki closer to the counter. It was a relatively safe option to choose for Tomoya, he supposed. After all, who didn’t like fish shaped pastries?

Making his decision, Kaoru picked out two of the fish shaped pastries and took them up to the counter. He paid for both the taiyaki and the bento for himself, and then left the convenience store, bag in hand.

The sight that greeted him was not a pleasant sight. Tomoya sat on the ground, hands covering his nose, while two local delinquents walked away with his bag.

“Hey!” Kaoru called out to the delinquents, glancing at Tomoya briefly to make sure he was okay first. “That’s not your bag. Give it back.” 

Normally calm and not one for confrontations like this, he didn’t like that these bullies had pushed Tomoya down, and he especially did not like that they had thought they could steal from him.

“Ahh...it’s okay, Hakaze-senpai…” Tomoya mumbled from behind him, voice muffled slightly.

“Make us!” The taller of the two delinquents sneered, making a nasty face at Kaoru.

“I’ll tell your moms that you’ve been harassing people.” Kaoru crossed his arms, not blinking even once.

It was enough to catch the two delinquents off guard, and it was certainly unexpected.   
Wha...what?! You know our moms?!” They cried, absolutely baffled by this new development. “You’re lying!”

“Is that really something you want to bet on?” Kaoru asked, watching as the pair began to doubt themselves. It took only a moment more for them to throw Tomoya’s bag at Kaoru and run off.

Kaoru caught Tomoya’s bag and sighed. He turned around and went back to Tomoya, crouching next to him. “Did they hurt you?” He asked, noting how he kept both hands over his nose.

Tomoya hesitated before slowly moving his hands away. His nose was bleeding, as if they had hit him. “I’m okay, Hakaze-senpai.” He sighed, trying to hide the tears in his eyes.

“Tomooooya-kun~! Don’t lie to me.” Kaoru hoped that sounding a little less serious would put Tomoya more at ease. “May I?”

Tomoya blinked as Kaoru stretched out his hand for him to take. He hesitated for a moment before placing his hand in Kaoru’s, unsure of his intentions. Was he going to do something weird again, like he had earlier? Tomoya wasn’t even wearing a dress this time!

Kaoru closed his hand around Tomoya’s gently, pulling him up with him when he stood. “Come on.” He said gently, letting go of his hand in favor of placing it on his shoulder instead. Then he gently steered him towards a nearby park.

“Where are we going…?” Tomoya asked hesitantly, noticing that they were going in the opposite direction of his home.

“The park. Just for a little bit.” Kaoru replied, showing him the bag with the taiyaki and bento. “You could probably do with a snack.”

“Oh, okay.” Tomoya relaxed, seeming to realize that Kaoru meant no harm, though something did seem to be bugging him.

“What’s the matter? Did they hurt you more than just your nose?” Kaoru frowned, looking closely at Tomoya in concern. He was angrier than he had expected he would be that those delinquents had decided to go after Tomoya like that, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to deny how he felt about the cute first year.

“Ah, no...that’s not it…” Tomoya hesitated for just a moment before asking what he was thinking about. “Were you really gonna tell their moms on them?”

Kaoru couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head as he did so. “No, no. I just wanted to scare them. It worked out pretty well, if I do say so myself.”

“Oh, okay. I just thought that since you’re always flirting with random girls, you did the same with older women.” Tomoya replied, sitting down on a park bench once they had gotten to a quiet spot in the park.

“Eh? Tomoya-kun, I’m not into older ladies…” Kaoru sat next to him and used his sleeve to wipe away some of the blood on Tomoya’s face. It looked as though the bleeding had stopped; a relief for Kaoru. “Not that older ladies aren’t beautiful, but...uh…I don’t…” He trailed off, wondering why he was becoming tongue-tied all of a sudden. “I...I mean…”

“Hakaze-senpai, you don’t need to try so hard…” Tomoya mumbled, avoiding eye contact while Kaoru cleaned up his nose. His face was red.

Kaoru blinked, pausing for a moment to watch Tomoya. The moment Tomoya’s gaze shifted up and locked with his own, Kaoru felt the last little bit of denial of his feelings for Tomoya fade away, trapped in the depths of his soft brown eyes. He was falling completely for Tomoya.

He forced himself to look away from Tomoya, frowning. “Oh, whatever…” He mumbled, turning and fishing out the taiyaki he’d bought for Tomoya. He handed over the fish shaped pastries and grabbed his own bento, deciding that since they were stopping for a bit, he may as well eat, too.

“Ah, thank you, senpai…” Tomoya mumbled, staring down at the taiyaki for a moment. Then he looked over at Kaoru’s bento and frowned. “Ah...won’t that be too much if you’re gonna be having dinner later…?”

“Mm...nah, I won’t be going home right away. I won’t be there for dinner.” Kaoru replied, frowning a bit.

“Why not?” Tomoya couldn’t help his curiosity.

“Ah...that...that’s a difficult subject.” Kaoru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “It...doesn’t really matter anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

“But...it has to be lonely to eat dinner alone. Why...why don’t you come have dinner at my house…?” Tomoya went crimson and hastily looked down at his taiyaki, focusing on unwrapping the pastry to hide his embarrassment.

“No, it would be rude to impose on you like that…” Kaoru had to admit that he did tend to end up kind of lonely on nights like these, when he avoided going home and didn’t have a date.

Tomoya went quiet for a few minutes, munching on his taiyaki thoughtfully. “Then...maybe…” He rubbed at his cheeks anxiously, somewhat resembling a bunny as he did so. “Maybe I could stay out with you until you go home…?”

“It’s kinda dangerous out, though.” Kaoru blinked, surprised that Tomoya wanted to stay out with him. “And I thought you didn’t like me because…” He trailed off, remembering the three times he had ‘mistaken’ Tomoya for a girl.

“Huh? I mean, at first you scared me a little. I thought you were gonna treat me like Hibiki-senpai does, but...you’re not bad or scary at all. I...I...kind of like you, Hakaze-senpai. Like...in a...a…romantic way...” Tomoya rubbed at his cheeks again, shivering slightly as the wind picked up around them. He couldn’t make eye contact with Kaoru, far too embarrassed.

Kaoru froze, speechless in this sort of situation for the first time in his life. In an attempt to buy more time, he slipped off his school jacket and put it around Tomoya’s shoulders. “Ah, Tomoya-kun...you...you’re pretty cute, y’know…”

“In a dress, you mean. When I look like a girl.” He sounded sad.

“No. I like you how you are. You’re cute when you’re blushing like you are now, and when you’re singing with your friends.” Kaoru smiled a little, hoping his blush wasn’t too noticeable. “Forgive me for using such a shitty, cliche line, but...did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

That got a laugh out of Tomoya. “I’m not an angel.” He shifted just a smidgen closer to Kaoru, smiling faintly. “But...I...I do have something to ask you…” He mumbled shyly.

“Mm? What’s that?” Kaoru didn’t mind when Tomoya leaned ever so slightly against him.

“Are...are you a magician? Because...because...abraca-DAYUM!” Tomoya shouted the last part much louder than he had intended.

Kaoru nearly choked on a bite he’d taken from his bento. “T-Tomoya-kun! Who taught you that?!” His face had gone bright red once more.

“I heard Tenshouin-senpai say it to Hibiki-senpai once and...and...he seemed to like it…” Tomoya hid his face in his hands, far too embarrassed to handle.

“Ah, please leave the pick-up lines to me...I...I think it’s cute that you tried, but...please.” Kaoru began to laugh, unable to help it.

“Okay…” Tomoya mumbled, puffing out his cheeks.

“I should probably get you home now.” Kaoru said softly, but made no move to get up.

“Ah...Hakaze-senpai...can we...just stay like this for a little while?”

Tipping his head to the side, Kaoru smiled a bit. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” He slowly reached over and took Tomoya’s hand gently.

For a while they just sat there, enjoying each other’s company. Kaoru couldn’t help but look forward to the coming days. Even if he was still fighting with his father, he would have something to look forward to a little more from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! This was a suggestion from @Miyazakiyuus on twitter! If you'd like to suggest a rare pair or prompt, you can find me on twitter @shichibunny


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